Cambridge conference investigates the fate of heritage in the wake of war

Culture Wars examines the fate of heritage in the wake of 21st-century
military conflict. Focusing on historical monuments, archaeological
sites, and cultural and human landscapes that have been put at risk or
destroyed in recent conflicts, this timely conference brings together
speakers** from museums, libraries and NGOs; archaeology, classics,
and law; and experts from Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Coinciding
with the Babylon exhibition at the British Museum, it also presents
the British Museum's Operation Iraqi Heritage.

Culture Wars are struggles played out within and beyond the arenas of
military conflict. Where the word 'culture' once denoted benign
enrichment, it is now a term conjuring up images of violent
polarisation and conflicting interpretations. Different groups are now
prepared to defend their respective ideas of where their cultural
heritage begins and ends, who are its guardians and the role this
guardianship entails. Entrenched positions strain 'the nexus between
cultural heritage and human rights' as is evident in the Balkans, or
in the Taliban's deliberate destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in
Afghanistan.

Such critical moments demand an urgent debate about the changing
meaning of cultural heritage and its attendant symbols. Whether the
violation is carried out against ancient monuments or modern icons of
corporate achievement such as New York's Twin Towers, the underlying
motivation for such acts points to an unshakable belief in the
validity of a specific cultural viewpoint. Preservation moves
perilously close to iconoclasm. Professor Mary Jacobus, Director of
CRASSH, points to 'the urgency surrounding the preservation of
cultural sites and historical monuments in times of war' as the
driving force behind this conference, a collaboration between CRASSH,
the Getty Research Institute, and the McDonald Institute for
Archaeological Research.